Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 255 Bone Arrow (Part 1)

It took a long while before Ye Ci regained her consciousness.

She could feel the cold seeping into her body. She could tell that she was enveloped by something wet as well. She opened her eyes slowly, and saw an azure sky filled with white fluffy cloud. The scenery was breathtakingly serene.

Where… Am I?

At that very moment, Ye Ci’s mind was blank. She could hear ringing in her ears, masking away the sound of her surroundings.

Her body were sore. She could feel extreme pain on her arms and legs, but it felt as if she no longer have command of her limbs at the same time.

It was a very conflicting set of sensations.

Ye Ci slowly regained the ability to think after wallowing in these strange sensations. She moved her neck, and realised that she was submerged in water. Her arm was still clinging onto a thick strip of rope attached to the ship’s mast, which was the sole reason that saved her from the fate of drowning.

Where the hell is this place? Ye Ci attempted to move her limbs, and gritted her teeth at the pain that followed. The seawater was cold, she would be dead if she suffered from a muscle cramp at a time like this.

She clung on to the mast, and surveyed her surroundings with great difficulties. She could see nothing but a vast stretch of water no matter where she looked, and she was surrounded by debris from the shipwreck. The azure sky remained calm, with the serenity of a loving mother.

Ye Ci’s wits finally returned to her, and she was able to recall the events that happened before she lost her consciousness. It was a horrible incident. She could not believe that a storm that had wrecked her ship had happened in such a calm sea.

Her Stamina was almost drained, and a system notification was ringing in her ears. She would die of exhaustion if she did not replenish her Stamina. She held on to the mast with one hand, pulled out a bottle of wine from her inventory with her free hand, and immediately chugged it down. It was a bottle of extremely valuable wine dropped from a Goblin during her trip to the Western Continent. The wine could only be consumed by players who were at least lvl60, and could increase a huge percentage of the player’s stamina. Ye Ci was reluctant to consume the wine, but this was the only thing that could keep her alive.

She would definitely lose her life if she did not choose to consume the wine to replenish her rapidly dwindling Stamina.

Alcoholic drinks had a better effect of raising one’s Stamina. And Ye Ci could feel the numbness of her body fading away as her Stamina rose. She no longer felt cold, and her body was no longer sore. Her current condition was a far cry away from her usual self.

But it was way better than what she was feeling earlier on.

Ye Ci began to once again survey her surroundings once she was able to move her body.

The sun had risen and it was shining down on Ye Ci with its full glare, scorching her skin with its intense heat. The sunny weather also meant that Ye Ci’s visibility had significantly improved. As a Huntress with high Perception, this meant that she could see further than an average player. She searched for survivors and life rafts that might be scattered around her but was disappointed by what she found. She was alone in this vast stretch of ocean, surrounded by nothing but debris.

Ye Ci called out her map with the intention of getting her bearings. She might was hoping that there was an island or even a continent nearby. She was once again disappointed when her map showed that she was in an unexplored zone. There were no nearby islands, nor was she in close proximity of a continent. A system notification appeared as she tried to zoom out with the map, “Map not available”.

“It seems that the map’s no use.” Ye Ci took a short rest, and activated Hawkeye in an attempt to search for anything that could be of help. Disappointment came when even the search with Hawkeye proved to be fruitless. Well, it seems that I’ll have to depend solely on luck.

The only silver lining in Ye Ci’s situation was the good weather, which meant that she could see as far as 800 yards away. She was surrounded by water from all sides, but there was a thin layer of fog to her north, and she could tell that something was obscured behind the fog.

Despite the uncertainty, Ye Ci decided to swim north after a short consideration of her situation.

She knew that death was the only thing that awaits if she remained at the same spot, and she was not someone who would sit and wait for her doom.

Even when diving into the water was a faster option than swimming on the surface, Ye Ci was forced to swim due to her lack of potions that would allow her to breath underwater.

Swimming was something that was very exhausting. The layer of fog that was 2,000 yards away seemed so unreachable to Ye Ci, who barely reached her destination after consuming another bottle of wine. She took a short breath before swimming into the fog. Even with her visibility reduced to a mere 300 yards by the fog, Ye Ci had a lingering feeling that something was hidden behind the fog. She refused to stop despite her exhaustion, knowing full well that she might never be able to muster the willpower to swim forward again if she took another break.

How strong is the will of a person? This was a question without an answer. Ye Ci was pressing on through the sheer power of her will. She had already lost her sense of time, and she did not know what awaited her ahead. Despite that, she made her resolved to continue swimming, and she would not stop.

The sea was not as calm as it seemed. Ye Ci could spot countless aquatic life forms of varying sizes beneath the water ranging from with levels ranging from lvl60 to lvl100. Of course, most of the life forms were neutral monsters who would not attack Ye Ci as long as she left them alone.

Ye Ci could even see fishes as she continued forward. They were not classified and monsters, and was instead materials vital for culinary and alchemy. The schools of fish swam all around Ye Ci, showing no sign of fear. Some would even brush past her as they swam by.

This was a very brief moment of joy for Ye Ci’s otherwise mundane swim to her objective.

She was then hit by a sudden realisation. These fish do not live in the deep sea. Their habitats were at the shallows. This was an indicator that she was a short distance away from the shore.

Such a knowledge strengthened Ye Ci’s resolved. She began swimming ahead with renewed vigor with an even higher speed.

The fog parted and a stretch of shore appeared before Ye Ci just as she thought that she would die from exhaustion. I’m almost there! She had been swimming for a full 20 minutes. She did not have even a shred of strength left as she arrived by the shore. She slumped onto the ground and laid on the soft sand.

“Ye Ci, where are you?” Ye Ci was spread eagle on the beach. The warm and soft waves caressed the lower part of the body as she laid beneath the warm glow of the sun. Despite her discomfort, she no longer had the energy to move. This was when she received the message from Bai Mo.

“I don’t know.” replied Ye Ci. This map was something that had never appeared in her past life, and her past self had never had the misfortune of running into such a terrifying storm.

Could this be the butterfly effect of my reincarnation? Ye Ci had realised things were different since her reincarnation, which made her experiences in her past life unreliable.

“Huh?” Bai Mo was baffled by Ye Ci’s words. Is there even a place in the Jiama Continent that she knew nothing about?

“I’m very unlucky.” replied Ye Ci with a self-mocking smile. Even Bai Mo was speechless when Ye Ci recounted the incidents that led to her current predicament, “I’m currently lying on a beach. I might be on an island, but there is also a chance that I ended up in a continent. Though the latter is not quite possible.”

Bai Mo creased his eyebrows as he listened to Ye Ci.

“What is it?”

“Someone from Battle Spear wishes to see you.” Bai Mo sighed at the person sitting in front of him.

“Battle Spear?” Ye Ci was shocked, “Is it Unbridled Willow or is it Zero Arsenic?”

“It’s Zero Arsenic.”

“Why is he looking for me?” hearing the name of Zero Arsenic gave Ye Ci goosebumps. She might be able to handle Unbridled Willow, but Zero Arsenic was someone who she did not want to deal with.

“If my hunch is correct, he’s here because of the people mining at the Lesser Demon Sanctuary.” as he was not using a private channel, Bai Mo’s words were heard by Zero Arsenic, who nodded his head in confirmation.

Bai Mo rolled his eyes at Zero Arsenic what a shameless guy…

“Tell him that even I have no idea where I am.” said Ye Ci as she sat up. She continued with a sigh when her attempt to leave the place with a city-recall stone failed, “And I don’t seem to be able to use a recall stone here. Tell him to make himself home, I’m busy.”

Zero Arsenic was not surprised when Bai Mo relayed the message, “I’m here to make a deal with her. I guess it’s a no go then.” and he clicked his tongue.

“What sort of deal?” Bai Mo was wary as the Mithril ore vein was involved. He was reluctant to deal with the sly fox named Zero Arsenic, but with what was at stake…

“I’ll have to talk to Gongzi You about it in private.” replied Zero Arsenic, who had expected Bai Mo’s response, in a calm voice.

Bai Mo narrowed his eyes at Zero Arsenic. He was irked by the man’s response, but he did not allow his emotions to show on his face. “Alright then. You can try contacting her when she’s back then.” he nodded with a smile. Bai Mo then stood up to see Zero Arsenic out, who departed after nodding at Bai Mo.

“What is he here for?” asked Timely Rain in a hushed voice when Zero Arsenic was safely away from Upwards Ho!’s guild encampment.

“There is a possibility that he knows about the Mithril ore vein.” Bai Mo narrowed his eyes, and his heart was filled with unease.

“Huh? How did he find out about it? Not more than 10 of our members know about this! Could this be the job of a traitor?” Timely Rain was panicking. If there was a traitor in the midst of the small group of 10 players, Upwards Ho! was in a grave situation.

“It could be.” Bai Mo had refrained from telling Timely Rain about Genesis’ effort to locate the Mithril ore vein of the Western Continent.

“Goddamn it!” Timely Rain slammed his fist on the table. A sense of failure gripped his heart. Different scenarios was running through his head as he attempted to identify the culprit of the information leak.

But the more Timely Rain thought about the matter, the more distraught he became. In the even, every single one of the 10 members felt like the culprit to him.

Bai Mo was able to read Timely Rain’s thoughts, “Don’t think too much about it. It’s just a possibility. Don’t doubt the members of our guild so easily, or we’ll have internal troubles even before somebody tries to take us on.”

Timely Rain took in a deep breath, “Should I launch an investigation?”